Owners taking our tips

I'm curious about the laws concerning "tipping out." At our restaurant, the owners take a nice size of our tips and tell us that it goes to the hostess salary, valet services, and employee party at the end of the year. Is this legal?

You need to check up on what the your rights are for receiving tips as many restaurants that receive a tip via a card are likely to keep it for themselves, rather than distribute it to their employees.

Here in the UK a law was just passed forbidding restaurant owners from using tips to top-up people's salary, called a 'tronc' payment. Now they have to give tips and the national minimum wage as standard...so it's a good time to come to the UK and work as a waiter!

There's an article about the new legislation at the following site...
www.foodeu.com/articles/UK+Waiters+Get+60+Pay+Rise.aspx

Thanks, Ellie

Nice Server in Jacksonville, Florida said: I'm curious about the laws concerning "tipping out." At our restaurant, the owners take a nice size of our tips and tell us that it goes to the hostess salary, valet services, and employee party at the end of the year. Is this legal?

It is ILLEGAL for an owner or manager to recieve tips. It is Stealing! Here in California owners do it, knowing they may get sued for "back tips". However, most employees don't pursue it, and the owner gets away with it. It is illegal! AND MORALLY WRONG!

Well, most all restaurants all have different policies on "tipping out." I've worked at a college bar/grill, an italian fine dining restaurant, and a chain bar/grill restaurant. At the college bar/grill, the servers decided the tip out range for the bartenders/hostesses. At the fine dining restaurant the managers used a certain percentage of our bar sales to tip out the bartenders (hostesses were not tipped out). At the chain restaurant the managers also used a percentage of our sales to tip out the bartenders and hostesses. So the best idea is probably finding a restuarant where you get to decide the tip out range. It usually works out the best this way...

I work at a bar where the general manager takes our tips during our shift and brings them into the back office. He then counts the money, paperclips it into bundles of $25 and brings the tip jar back out to the bar. Last night we had a really busy night, but the money we made was not that good. I'm afraid if I say something that I will lose my job. I have thought about saying something anonymously, but I still run the risk of being discovered and fired. I would love any advice about this. Please help.

BartenderBeingRobbed in Los Angeles, California said: I work at a bar where the general manager takes our tips during our shift and brings them into the back office. He then counts the money, paperclips it into bundles of $25 and brings the tip jar back out to the bar. Last night we had a really busy night, but the money we made was not that good. I'm afraid if I say something that I will lose my job. I have thought about saying something anonymously, but I still run the risk of being discovered and fired. I would love any advice about this. Please help.

WOW. I'm a general manager of a pizza place AND an adjoining sports pub and I would NEVER DARE to go into my bartender's tip jars - that's just not ethical, or right. Those tips are none of my business. All I encourage is my staff to claim 18% between charge & cash tips, so that the IRS doesn't crawl all over my staff or my business with fines. I don't know what California's labor laws are, but in Maine, I can fire "at will", but I better have some pretty good write-ups, or they find in favor of the employee. I think you need to say something to someone - is there a supervisor over your General Manager? Is anyone auditing with him/her the tips he/she is carrying out & counting? How can you be sure they aren't skimming?? That's YOUR money, not theirs. Definitely find someone to bring this to. That's not right at all.

WOW is right! I live in California,and that is definateley not cool. A owner or manager are not entitled to any servers or bartenders tips. It is the LAW. I recently got a cash settlement here in Calif. because the ownwer was skimming 10% of my, and every other severs tips every single night. Every single shift. He paid me cash to get rid of me, and only have of what he stole at that. He is also doing weird things with the cash receipts, and he knows I know, which is another reason I think I was paid.
As for you, you have to take a stand, like I did, and speak up. He can not retaliate against you, that too is illeagal. What about the severs tips? Does he divide them up in private also?
Good luck.

larrycarloton@yahoo.com in Burbank, California said: WOW is right! I live in California,and that is definateley not cool. A owner or manager are not entitled to any servers or bartenders tips. It is the LAW. I recently got a cash settlement here in Calif. because the ownwer was skimming 10% of my, and every other severs tips every single night. Every single shift. He paid me cash to get rid of me, and only have of what he stole at that. He is also doing weird things with the cash receipts, and he knows I know, which is another reason I think I was paid.
As for you, you have to take a stand, like I did, and speak up. He can not retaliate against you, that too is illeagal. What about the severs tips? Does he divide them up in private also?
Good luck.

RIGHT ON!!

Not to beat this to death, but there IS the Whistleblower's Act, which protects employees who legitimately point the finger. I've been in the restaurant business for 34 years - from the ground up - have done every job in a hotel/restaurant thought of. I've had some pretty crappy, sneaky, thieving managers, and I know how hard it is to stand up and possibly lose your job. But, again, it is NOT the manager or the owner's business what is in your tip jar. As long as you are claiming enough to satisfy the IRS (and therefore your employer isn't getting fined for not paying enough payroll taxes), who cares? You work hard, you take crap from customers & some coworkers - take your money & run. I strongly encourage all of you being treated this way to speak up - you will feel a lot more in control, and even in this economy, there are a lot of us managers out there wishing we had good, solid, hardworking employees on our staff - and we look all of the time.
Anne

Hi guys! Thanks so much for taking the time to send some advice my way. There is the owner, who is rarely at the bar, but he is very goood friends with the manager. I have thought about writing an anonymous letter to this owner, but this staff has all worked together for like 5 to 8 years, and I'm the new bartender, so I'm afraid that they could easily deduce that I am the letter's author. The Whistleblower's Law gives me some hope, but I've found that if someone wants you gone, they will find reasons to fire you or drastically reduce your hours and I really can't afford that right now. A week ago, I did some snooping and we sold $1920 in cash sales, but there was only $250 in our tip jar at the end of the night, and the manager took the tips into the back office unsupervised at the end of the night while we cleaned, leaving the registers full of money. It looks like he's more concerned with our tips than with the register money :-( I have thought about speaking up, but I don't even have the owner's number to contact him and again am terrified of losing my job in this economy. I know what the legalities are on this, but I feel like real life is very different. I'm really torn on bringing this up to the owner anonymously (as anonymous as I can be in this situation) and putting my job in jeopardy or straight away reporting it to the DOL and NLRB. As for the waitresses tips, we don't have any, it's a small bar so the only staff we have is bartenders.

Hey now.....
You have to do something. You and the other Bartenders are being systematically robbed every shift. I would count the amount of money in MY tip jar every hour or so. I would definately count it near the end of my shift BEFORE he counts it. And,DO NOT let the manager know you counted it if possible. Then you can accurately tell how much money was taken. You may be surprised to find nothing was taken, but I highly doubt that. What reason does a manager have to take an employee's tips into a private room and "package" them. You have to have some colleones' and cathc this guy in the act. I wouldn't say anything until you do it a few times. (Count the tips before he does.) That way he can't say he just made a mistake.
Here is a # of an attorney I know; He specializes in "Restaurant Law". He will be very helpful. His name is Jim De Simone
Good luck....Don't give up. You work hard for YOUR $$.

jeffdunham@yahoo.com in Burbank, California said: Hey now.....
You have to do something. You and the other Bartenders are being systematically robbed every shift. I would count the amount of money in MY tip jar every hour or so. I would definately count it near the end of my shift BEFORE he counts it. And,DO NOT let the manager know you counted it if possible. Then you can accurately tell how much money was taken. You may be surprised to find nothing was taken, but I highly doubt that. What reason does a manager have to take an employee's tips into a private room and "package" them. You have to have some colleones' and cathc this guy in the act. I wouldn't say anything until you do it a few times. (Count the tips before he does.) That way he can't say he just made a mistake.
Here is a # of an attorney I know; He specializes in "Restaurant Law". He will be very helpful. His name is Jim De Simone
Good luck....Don't give up. You work hard for YOUR $$.

PS Sorry, this forum won't allow phone # s??

I was paid over $5000. in tips that were being STOLEN from me by the OWNER and MANAGER. It is illeagal for an Owner or manager to get tipped.
They were stealing 10% every shift and saying it was for the DOOR?? The host and hostess never get tips. I called the Labor Board. They will investigate. You have to stand up for yourself. Don't be taken advantage of by these sleezballs.
Good luck...God Bless.

The bartenders are not allowed to count tips during their shift or trade them into the register. Management is afraid we will be secretly stealing money from the register and then under-ringing. And the bar that I work in is one big room where everybody has a view of what you're doing. And most nights we are so busy pouring drinks that there's no time to count tips. We'd look ridiculous counting tips while customers are lined up waiting for drinks. Just tonight I got the phone number of one of the owners. He's a lot less involved in the bar's day-to-day activities, but he used to be a bartender himself, so there's a chance that he'd understand where I'm coming from. But if I talk with him and tell him to talk with the main owner (who's rarely around) I am going out on a limb because he might also tell him that I was the one who talked with him about it. Also this bar is about to open for daytime shifts, which I am supposed to get scheduled for, so I'm thinking that I should keep my mouth shut until I have a very definite set schedule. Another wrench in the works is that all the bartenders are paid their hourly under the table, so there's no way to document an employees schedule.

The Labor Board is a good start - fear of retribution goes a long way in supporting an employee who is getting screwed over. They will be very interested in the fact you guys get paid under the table - in fact, that could be a plus when talking to the owner - here he has a manager stealing from employees while paying them under the table??? He may want to fix the problem BEFORE the State of California steps in. You are entitled to your money ,and we certainly all understand your frustration - best of luck!!

Well, im looking for a job that has to do with sering food in restruants or something, and im 16 years old help? ASAP please?

SomeAsianGhurl in Seattle, Washington said: Well, im looking for a job that has to do with sering food in restruants or something, and im 16 years old help? ASAP please?

Stay in school, or go back to school. The restaurant biz is hard work, I wish I had done something different. No benefits, work on holidays, late night closing shifts.....it sucks.

there's a tapas bar in the marina where the owner takes tips...

In california ive heard it is illegal for bar owners to accept tips and keep them, even if they are working a bar shift. We are not allowed to trade shifts, if we call in out take day off. Owner takes shifts instead of calling other bartender. besides this being greedy on owners part, it is illegal?

I'm a server in a restaurant and until recently we (the servers) were given our tips each quarter as a sort of bonus on our paychecks. Apparently shiftleaders and managers were also being given bonuses from the tip jar (I didn't know about that until recently). A few months ago, though, the tip lines were taken off the credit card reciept slips, they hung a sign saying "our staff is happy to help you... tipping is not required" (paraphrased) and our tips are almost 2 months over due now.

I suspect the owners of my restaurant are stealing what cash tips we still get. We've asked our managers, but they say they don't know nuthin about nuthin. Because of the tip situation and because they aren't giving raises to anyone, I'm actually making less money now than I was a year ago (I've worked at this place for almost 3 years now), and I now make slightly more than minimum wage.

This is unethical at the least and probably illegal. Can anyone cite the state (I'm in Florida) or federal statute making it illegal for restaurant owners/managers to keep tips from their servers? Does it apply only to servers whose base pay is less than minimum wage? I ask because some of us servers are preparing to confront our management about the problem.

As a restaurant/pub manager in Maine, all I can say is "ouch". Wow.
I can give you some help, but with Maine State laws, if it helps at all.
First of all, you CAN be audited by the IRS if your occupation is a tipped profession (bartenders, waitstaff, hairdressers, etc) and they will make you pay if you are not claiming 12% of your net sales. They won't listen to "my owner takes my tips", they figure that's your problem.
In Maine, you must be PAID minimum wage (up here it's 7.25/hour) if you have no tips and no sales. Again, if you are ringing in sales, you must claim tips.
Furthermore, it is illegal for owners to take tips. Sometimes management can - depends on the company - but usually only "working" management, like those who actively wait tables/bartend/bus fulltime to earn their living, along with management duties/responsibilities.
Your best bet is to contact your local Florida Dept of Labor, and they will direct you to an employee who can answer all of your questions for your state, as well as help you file a grievance, if needed, against your employer - like a classaction suit.
Good luck!! (and my waitstaff thinks it sucks that they have to tip out their support staff! I may print this out for them!!)

BartenderBeingRobbed in Los Angeles, California said: I work at a bar where the general manager takes our tips during our shift and brings them into the back office. He then counts the money, paperclips it into bundles of $25 and brings the tip jar back out to the bar. Last night we had a really busy night, but the money we made was not that good. I'm afraid if I say something that I will lose my job. I have thought about saying something anonymously, but I still run the risk of being discovered and fired. I would love any advice about this. Please help.

Dude, you are protected by California law that says a company may not retaliate against a whistleblower. That being said, they can fire you without reason after you turn those thieving pri cks in. I'm in the same boat you are. Funny how this seems to be a ubiquitous problem...

i've worked as a server @the same restaurant for 14 yrs starting @age 18-near 19- I was instructed to follow a system for claiming tips- hrs x wage + wht u think ur going to claim- divided by hrs- amount should be at or above mininum wage---is this legal?

Not any more! That's what we all used to do - now the IRS will audit and demand you pay 12% of your net sales - supplied by your employer, of course.

Anne in Nobleboro, Maine.....

You make your employees claim 18%!!! Holy Hell.... you must have some pretty amazing people that come into that restaurant. That means that after tipping out, your employees walk with 18% or more in tips.... Can I get an application!?!?!?

maybe you're tipping out too much!
Our staff (bartenders/waitstaff) only have to tip out 3% of food sales (5% liquor sales to bartenders), and that is split with support staff (busboy, hostess). Their tipout amounts to about 12% of what their total tips are. they have to claim 15%, not 18%,for the IRS and most make 19-25% consistantly and work hard for it. After tipout they still make a little more than they're claiming AND we subtract their tipouts from their total tips claimed so that they don't have to pay income tax on tips they gave to support staff.
A lot of seasonal places around here make staff tip out as much as 40% of their tips - that's just greed.
At 4.50 an hour, my waitstaff needs to keep 88% of their tips.
The support staff are making a good hourly wage, and appreciate the tipouts, no matter the amount. It's still extra cash in their pocket, and good jobs are hard to find.

The restaurant owner takes 40% of my daughter's waitressing tips to pay his gambling debts. Is this legal in Washington State?

hello, i work in a bar and i have recently discovered that the owners have been using the tips money to buy cleaning equipment and the boxes of syrup for the coke and lemonade fizzy guns. also if a table who have drinks on a tab leave without paying they take the money they owed from the tips. is this illegal? im in work tomorrow and have no fear confronting the owners if i have the evidence to show they are breaking the law. I live in the UK.

I know my boss is stealing my tips. I am the only waitress in a small cafe. I've seen her literally "pocket" my tips. How can I confront her and still keep my job? She told me when I first started that she would be the one counting my tips at the end of the day. I finally got the nerve to tell her that I would be counting my own tips. She was mad but I stood my ground. How do I keep her from stealing my tips? Any advice would be helpful

What authority does an employer have to take and control his worker's tips? Federal laws along with state laws both suggest that employers are prohibitted from taking the tips a customer gives a worker. Federal laws state that all tips received by an employee are to be retained by the employee. Most, if not all, state laws explain that employers are prohibited from taking any part of the tips customer's present an employee. So how can an employer take tips way from an employee legally?

I did a little research and this is what I found out. While just about every labor law in this country explains that employers cannot take an employee's tips away from him, several judges have ruled that such acts are legal. Now why would a judge rule that it is legal for the restaurant industry to violate our laws? I did a little more research and have come to the conclusion that because the restaurant industry funds the National Restaurant Association, one of the biggest lobbiest in the nation, the restaurant industry will get what-ever they want.

Who do you think is sponsoring all the fund raising diners for our politicians. The amount of money the restaurant industry is contributing to political campaigns is staggering. I guess if you pay off the right people you don't have to follow the law.

Why do they take tips?? Because they're in a position to victimize the employee - DEFINITELY check your labor laws in any state!! Owners/managers have NO business counting/tabulating/taking ANY tips from ANY server.
The sad part is they aren't turned in, for fear of loss of job.
Not all of us (management) are bad......but in this forum, I've learned that alot of your managers/owners are simply thieves. That's just not right.
Working for tips is not easy.
Best of luck?

Very interesting, and probably true. Pretty sad. I'm just glad this forum exists, because the more people "talk", the more info we get out there.

Here's the fact of the matter. Tips are the customer's private property. Any judge that rules that en employer may take the customer's tip and pool or distribute it to workers whom the customer could have tipped, but didn't, is stealing the customer's property. If customers want their tips shared, they have every right and ability to share their tips themselves. Judges are stealing the customer's tip by ruling the tips belong to certain types of workers and as such employers may pool and appropriate the customer's tip to those workers whom the courts have determined may share in them.

The reason judges are stealing the customer's tip is because if the employer did it himself, the employer would be violating our labor laws. When a judge rules that an employer may take his employee's tips and share them with others, it exhonerates the employer from any violation of state of federal law.

Judges are lying and suggesting that they are in some way authorized to determine who your tip belongs to simply so it won't be illegal for an employer to take your tip away from the person you've given it to. Federal laws along with state laws prohibit employers from taking any part of the tips you give a worker. To aid business owners in contravening the laws on itps, judges are lying in court and suggesting that judges, rather than customers, are authorized to determine who the customer's tip belongs to.

Tips belong to the server. It is illegal for anyone, whether manager, owner, etc. to 'take' steal your hard earned money.

There might be help, or at least decent referral, from the following:

National Employment Law Project, a New York-based advocacy group for low-income workers.

"you MUST stand up for your rights, for damn sure no one else will"

My point is, if a customer gives a worker a tip, no one should be able to say, I think that tip belongs to someone else. And yet, we have judges across this country that are saying things such as,

"It is ridiiculous to assume that the entire tip left by the patron is the waitress's personal property."

"The average diner has little or no idea and does not really care who benefits from the gratuity he leaves, as long as the employer does not pocket it, because he rewards for good service no matter which one of the employees directly servicing the table renders it."

This is the reasoning a judge came up with to substantiate his ruling that an employer can take a waiter's tips away from him.

All I want to know is why is it ridiculous for a person to believe that a tip given them is not their property?

If the customer doesn't inform you that you are to share your tip with others, why is ridiculous to assume that a tip given you is not yours?

What if some customers want to be able to determine, for themselves, who should get their tip?

When the judge ruled that employers could collect and pool the customer's tip among all those in the chain of service, what he ruled was that the courts, rather than the customer, will determine who is entitled to the customer's tip. Now, anyone considered by the courts to be an employee in the chain of service is entitled to a share of the customer's tip.

An employer who takes away the tips of a worker so that they may be shared among workers in the chain of service is not violating any laws because the courts have ruled that such workers are entitled to the customer's tip. You see, when the courts ruled that workers in the chain of service were eligible to participate in a tip pool, what they ruled was that an employee cannot bring charges against his employer for taking his tips in violation of state law, due to the fact that a judge has ruled tips given an employee don't actually belong to the employee.

The truth about the federal tip credit.

The federal tip credit is a law that steals the customer's private property, his tip, and gives it over to business owners. Want proof? Here it is.

A worker receives $4.00 an hour in tips. What the tip credit does is it allows this worker's employer the ability to deduct $4.00 from the employee's hourly wages. While the employee would have to be paid $7.25 an hour if customer's refused to tip him, his employer can reduce his hourly wages by $4.00 an hour if customers tip him $4.00 an hour. Instead of the employee going home with the additional $4.00 an hour in tips customer's gave him, his employer will go home with an additional $4.00 an hour in personal earnings. Here is how you prove this is the case.

If this particular employer was not taking the tips customers have presented his employee, then the employer would not be affected if customer's discontinued their tipping. However, what this scenario proves is that if customer's were to stop tipping, the only one negatively affected by the discontinuance of customers tipping would be the employer who would now have to come out of his own pocket with $4.00 an hour to insure that his employee was receiving a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. While the employee would lose nothing if customer's stopped giving him $4.00 an hour in tips, his employer would see a reduction in personal income of $4.00 an hour due to the fact he would have to come out of his own pocket with money to pay his employee $7.25 an hour.

An employer who takes a tip credit is taking the tips customers have presented his employee. The truth is revealed when one simply analyzes what would happen if customer stopped tipping. In this particular scenario it is obvious that the only one affected by customer tipping is the employer, thus the only one benefitting in this scenario is the employer not the employee. The employee will not be affected because his employer is the one actaully taking the tips.

Nice Server in Jacksonville, Florida said: I'm curious about the laws concerning "tipping out." At our restaurant, the owners take a nice size of our tips and tell us that it goes to the hostess salary, valet services, and employee party at the end of the year. Is this legal?

Wait a minute. Your employer is dividing up the customer's private property, his tip?

It is not legal for someone to control another's private property without first obtaining consent from the person whom the property belongs. In this case the property in question belongs to the customer. If customers want their tips divided up among certain workers, they can divide their tips up themselves. If your employer is controlling or appropriating the customer's tip, he is stealing the customer's tip. Imagine if you were to control someone elses property in such a manner. You would be locked up in jail.

I'm working as server in restaurant (in a supermarket) with no tipping policy - rationale is that other employees in other store departments don't receive tips so neither should the restaurant servers. Customers are slowly adjusting to this but, if any customer leaves a cash tip, the server receiving the tip is expected to put it in a tip jar that disappears into accounting office. Management's story is that the tip money is going toward funding a store-wide employee party. Is this legal? Where do I look to find out the statues on this? Also, is it legal to pay a part-time server less money per hour than one that is categorized as full-time, even tho both are doing the same job?

So what you are saying is the owner of the restaurant can collect tips for himself in a tip jar, but the workers can't accept tips personally given to them? I would love to see someone take a case like this to the U.S. Supreme Court. I truly believe that customers cannot be prohibitted from tipping. I believe our constitution guarantees our people the liberty to spend their money however they choose, which in turn would give them the right to tip even if an employer doesn't want customers tipping his workers. My feelings are that if someone wants to do something, he should have a right to do so as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. In the case of tipping, it doesn't seem to harm anyone. Look at how many businesses not only encourage tipping but put out a tip jar to solicit tipping.

As far as your employer forcing you to give your tips over to his tip jar, it sounds illegal to me. I have never liked tip jars and your story is a good illustration of the problem with most tip jars.

Have you ever seen a tip jar with an employee's name on it? Why are there no tip jars with no one's name on it. If I where you, I would put out a tip jar with my name on it. If your employer has a no tipping policy, why does he have a tip jar? The problem with tip jars is that they leave the customer no way of disignating who should receive the money and what amount they should receive. As a result the employer is able to utilize the money to his interests.

If every worker was able to put out a tip jar with their name on it, customers could choose who they want to tip and what amount they want to tip them. However, I believe the whole idea behind tip jars is to simply solicit more money for the business. How can a worker, or for that matter a group of workers, claim that the money in the tip jar is for them when their name isn't on the jar? There are no details as to who the tips are for and what amount each will receive. Customers can't decide such matters.

The truth of the matter is, most tip jars don't cantain tips as defined under federal law. Federal regulations define tips as an amount given in recognition of some service performed for the customer. Federal regulations explain that whether a tip is to be given, and its amount, are matters determined solely by the customer, and generally he has the right to determine who shall be the recipient of his gratuity. Tip jars don't allow customers such rights. Tip jars provide customers with no means to recognize the service of a particular worker. The money simply goes into a jar with no one's name on it.

Please note that federal regulations clearly explain that it is the sole right of the customer to determine whether a tip is given.

Why are employers putting out a tip jar with no ones name on it? What if a customer wants to give a speciific worker a tip but don't want to give another worker a tip? The tip jar doesn't allow customers to determine whether a tip is given to a certain worker.

Please note that federal regulations explain that the amount of tip given is a matter determined solely by the customer.

How can a customer determine how much he is giving a particular employee when the business is putting out a tip jar? If the customer wants to give a particular worker a $5.00 tip and there is a tip jar on the counter, the employer can simply tell the employee that he has a tip pooling policy and then threaten to fire the employee if he doesn't put the tip in the tip jar. Once the tip is in the tip jar, the money is mingled all together where there is no way of distinguishing who the money is for and what amount each is entitled to. Who will end up determining the amount each employee receives from a tip jar? It isn't the customer?

Here's the truth. A tip jar with no ones name on it does not contain tips. The reason being, customers are not able to determine who their tip is intended for and what amount that employee should receive. It's fraud.

To clarify...the employer does not have a "tip jar" sitting out in full view of customers. Rather, all servers are expected to put any cash tips received from customers into a jar or jars out of full view from customers. From what's been counted on previous shifts, employer is receiving "free" money to pay for 2 or 3 part time employees each day. NICE! And employer continues to justify lower part-time wage as result of "flexible" schedule...

I'm a assisant manager for a Hotel and when slow we send bartenders home and I run the bar. I'm I legally allowed to keep the tips in South Carolina?

Yes, as long as it is slow enough that no one can say you're sending people home just to screw them out of money. We send people home in our restaurant, too, and sometimes we (management) have to waitress or bartend. Your tips are your tips - what is NOT right is taking the tips of your employees, via tip jar, or any other measure, including being tipped out as a support person (food runner, hostess, etc), because it is assumed your higher rate of pay takes the place of a tipout. (I'm running a restaurant & bar in Maine, but have worked in many different states in 35 years of restaurant work)

Employers who insist on pooling tips are stealing tips. If I were to dictate how the money in your bank account was going to be spent you would certainly know I was stealing your money. Why can't people understand that when an employer decides that customer tips will be pooled he is stealing the money. Pooling money received as tips is the same thing as spending the money received as tips. Spending money not intended for you is the same thing as stealing money.

Employer mandated tip pooling is not legal. Those who suggest that such practices are legal are blatantly lying in an effort to aid and abet thieves.

I made a forum where us servers can vent our frustrations. Tip The Server.com Come hang out.

benjamingrelle@yahoo.com in Burbank, California said: It is ILLEGAL for an owner or manager to recieve tips. It is Stealing! Here in California owners do it, knowing they may get sued for "back tips". However, most employees don't pursue it, and the owner gets away with it. It is illegal! AND MORALLY WRONG!

Do you have a link to where I can find the legal precident on this? I have a manager who is requesting 20% of our nightly tips because she came up with the theme for the night and puts in hours outside of work on it that she is not paid for.

We have the right to tell her no, but I want some legal points to drop on her when this comes up again.

my manager /part owner is behind the bar when it is convienent to him. on and average night{6 hour shift} he is back there about two hours. the rest of the time he is cashing out tips in the back room changing small bills into larger ones and i am sure that not everything is making back into the tip jar. at the end of the night he vanishes into his office with the tips while we continue to work and come out with four neat piles of money split four ways,. I and the others are so sick of this practice and sick of this we are ready to do something legally about him. we have worked there a good numbers of years and he is just recently become part owner. is there anything we can do. talking to him just leads to the same thing everytime, "i was back there long enough". please if someone can help we would be really grateful. I don't know what Mass. law has for this

It is illegal for an owner to take tips if they do not declare them to the tax man, If an employer takes tips and shares them out they must declare them and pay tax.

I am not sure if this is just UK law, but if your employer is taking your tips and keeping them i am sure in most countries the tax man would like a tip off and maybe if your employer had to back pay taxes then he might think again before doing it next time.

Other wise tips are a really gray area, if you give bad service then there would be less tips but you might loose your job.

Add you comments to our forum as we have lots of employers there and maybe they would have more advice www.cateringprofilesonline.com

okay so i work at this privately owned restuarnt and get tiped really well but the thing is WE DONT GET TO KEEP OUR TIP. they include our tip in our weekly pay which i think is totally wrong. no one has had the guts to say something but i think its time to take a stand and find out whats really going on. can someone give me some accurate advice please.